The Filigree Theatre Unveils the Cast For PHOTOGRAPH 51

Woman-owned and operated independent theatre company, The Filigree Theatre, has officially announced the full cast for the next production in their Fifth Anniversary Season, “Photograph 51” written by Anna Ziegler. Opening weekend will start with a preview on Thursday, Jan. 25 and continue through Sunday, Jan. 28 starting at 8 p.m. each night, with a 3 p.m. Sunday matinee, at the Factory on 5th (3409 E. 5th St., Austin, TX 78702). The show will then run the following Thursday - Sunday evening at 8 p.m., with the same matinee on Sunday at 3 p.m., until close on Feb. 4. Tickets for “Photograph 51'' will be available at The Filigree Theatre website and directly via The Austin American-Statesman's new ticketing platform called evvnt starting Nov. 15.

Filigree has an ongoing relationship with playwright Anna Ziegler as the company performed Ziegler's play “A Delicate Ship” during their inaugural season in Austin, and Ziegler and Filigree's Artistic Director, Elizabeth V. Newman are friends from when they attended Yale.

 

Hot off the heels of this season's successful first production of "ANTIGONE," named an "excellent production" that was "well-acted, directed and produced" by Broadway World Austin and "a deeply satisfying theatre experience" from CTX Live Theatre, “Photograph 51” captures the season theme, “The Woman in the Story,” perfectly. The play explores the story of Rosalind Franklin, the X-ray crystallographer responsible for the discovery of the DNA's double-helix structure. This historical fiction introduces the audience to the complications (both professionally and personally) faced by a female scientist in the 1950s as she competes with her male colleagues in the race towards a monumental scientific breakthrough. 

 

When it played on the West End of London in 2015, “Photograph 51” starred Nicole Kidman as Rosalind Franklin and was awarded Best New Play at the WhatsOnStage Awards in 2016 and named the Number One Play of 2019 by the Chicago Tribune. Kidman also won Best Actress from the 2015 Evening Standard Theatre Awards and Best Actress at the WhatsOnStage Awards in 2016 for the role. 

 

“It's a perfect science-history play, with all the hurtling momentum of a race towards discovery, all the step-by-step deductions, competition and backhanded betrayals.” - Variety

 

“What playwright Anna Ziegler has achieved in her intriguing portrait of the British scientist Rosalind Franklin is a remarkable balance of scientific subject matter and theatrical storytelling…in a play that glows with intelligence and humanity…” - Backstage

ABOUT “PHOTOGRAPH 51” DIRECTOR & CAST:

 

Anna Ziegler (Playwright) Anna Ziegler's plays include the widely produced Photograph 51 (West End, directed by Michael Grandage and starring Nicole Kidman; named the number one play of 2019 by the Chicago Tribune; winner of London's WhatsOnStage Award for Best New Play; available on Audible; published in Methuen Drama's Modern Classics series), The Last Match (Roundabout; Old Globe; Writers Theatre), The Wanderers (Old Globe; Roundabout; City Theatre; GesherTheater (Israel); Ernst Deutsch Theater (Germany)), Actually (Geffen Playhouse; Williamstown; Manhattan Theatre Club; Trafalgar Studios in London and many more; L.A. Ovation Award winner for Playwriting for an Original Play). She holds commissions from Roundabout Theatre Company, Second Stage Theatre and Grove/Whitman Productions. Bloomsbury/Methuen Drama has published two collections of her work entitled Anna Ziegler: Plays One and Anna Ziegler: Plays Two.

 

Elizabeth V. Newman (Director, Filigree Producing Artistic Director) is a native New Yorker who has directed and produced critically-acclaimed theatre and film projects in New York, Los Angeles, Toronto and Austin. Newman graduated from Yale University with dual B.A. degrees in History of Art and Theater Studies. She earned her M.F.A. degree in Film Production at Boston University. Her stage directing credits include: “LIFTED” by Charlie Thurston (World Premiere, Austin); “TIDE” by Molly Wagner (World Premiere, Austin); “Fire in Dreamland” by Rinne Groff (Austin); “100 Planes” by Lila Rose Kaplan (World Premiere, Austin, West Coast Premiere, Los Angeles); “The Lady From The Sea” by Henrik Ibsen; “The Turn Of The Screw” by Jeffrey Hatcher (Austin); “Fefu And Her Friends” by Maria Irene Fornes (Austin); “Miss Julie” by August Strindberg (Austin); “A Delicate Ship” by Anna Ziegler (Austin Premiere), “Trio” by Sheila Cowley (World Premiere, Austin); “Any Night” by Daniel Arnold and Medina Hahn (Los Angeles Premiere and Austin Premiere – nominated for four B. Iden Payne Awards, including Outstanding Direction of a Drama); “Body of Work” by Christine Hoang, (World Premiere, Austin); “Mocha” by Eleanor Burgess (World Premiere, Austin); “The Sniper's Nest” by Lisa Soland (Austin Premiere); “Goodnight Children Everywhere” by Richard Nelson (London, ON, Canada); “Fragments” by Murray Schisgal (Los Angeles). Her theatrical producing credits include: The Austin Premiere of “When We Were Young And Unafraid” by Sarah Treem; the World Premiere of “Mocha” by Eleanor Burgess (Austin); the World Premiere of “Nights of Noir!” by Casey Wilson (Los Angeles); the West Coast Premiere of “Orange Lemon Egg Canary” by Rinne Groff (Los Angeles); the American Premiere of “Clocks and Whistles” by Samuel Adamson (New York) and “Dutchman” by Leroy Jones (New York). Newman's film directing credits include the feature film “Child of Light” as well as numerous short films, including her most recent project, the comedy short, “Pizza My Heart”. She has written several award-winning short and feature-length screenplays. She is a member of DIRECTOR'S LAB: NORTH and served as the Founding Co-President of Women in Film and Television: Austin. She has twice served as a panelist at The Austin Film Festival. To learn more, visit elizabethVnewman.com 

 

CAST:

 

The cast of “Photograph 51” will star Laura Ray as Rosalind Franklin, J. Kevin Smith as Maurice Wilkins, and Fernando Rivera as Ray Gosling. Returning to the stage from his role as Haemon in “ANTIGONE” is Bailey Ellis as Don Caspar, joined by Cameron La Brie as James Watson and Scot Friedman as Francis Crick.

 

DESIGNERS/PRODUCTION:

 

The crew for this second production of the season will include Alison Lewis as the Lighting and Scenic Designer, Johann Solo as Sound Designer, and Liz Tyson as Properties Designer. The show will be costumed by Maddy Lamb.

 

ABOUT FILIGREE'S FIFTH ANNIVERSARY SEASON:

 

"To filigree” means "to make by hand and with much skill.” 

 

The Filigree Theatre is an independent theatre company committed to producing high-level, professional theatre and to creating thoughtful, innovative and challenging work for the stage. The company embraces the dual roots of the word ‘Filigree' (filum 'thread' and granum ‘seed') in its mission, with an aim to serve both as a SEED by originating work in Filigree's home-base of Austin, TX and as a THREAD by collaborating with artists and engaging audiences in other theatre hubs such as New York & Los Angeles.

 

The Filigree Theatre's annual season is structured to connect the Past, Present and Future of theater over the course of a three-show season. Each season is structured as follows: starting with the Fall (Past) represented by an older or classic play; then Winter (Present) represented by a current piece from a playwright living/working today; concluding with the Spring (Future) represented by a new work or World Premiere. Each season is tied together with a common theme that runs throughout the three shows. The theme of Filigree Theatre's Fifth Anniversary Season is “The Woman in the Story”, as it will take the audience on a journey with three strong, intelligent, independently-minded women who, each, in their own way (and in their own era), are fighting to survive in the proverbial ‘man's world'. 

 

From David Rush's adaptation of Sophocles' classic play “Antigone” in the Fall, to Anna Ziegler's “Photograph 51'' in the Winter, and concluding with Julie Zaffarano's new work, “Above the Fold'' in the Spring, The Filigree Theatre is excited to share the incredible influence of these women with audiences. This season will celebrate the fiercely brave Antigone, standing up for her convictions no matter the cost to herself, 1950s scientist Rosalind Franklin in a race with her male colleagues towards ground-breaking genetic discoveries, and Dorothy Walton, an ambitious young journalist in the 1930's trying to make a name for herself in a ruthless profession. Each of these women navigates the complex expectations and social nuance of their time while holding, like a guiding light, their own moral compass. 

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